Billionaire term limits proponent Ronald Lauder (pictured, far right) confirmed his support for Mayor Bloomberg's and the City Council's legislation to add another term to term limits--and expressed his hope it would be overturned after (presumably) Bloomberg was re-elected. Lauder told the NY Times that he believes term limits will go back to two after a voter referendum in 2010, "To me, this is a temporary solution." However, Lauder also referred to the economic crisis,......

Yesterday, the City Council introduced the bill that would permanently extend term limits from two terms to three. The Daily News spoke to "opponents of the bill" who says the legislation is "being rushed through"--and may come up for a vote in two weeks. A source confirms to the Post, "They're really fast-tracking it because of the mounting opposition." In fact, Ronald Lauder, who supports the concept of Mayor Bloomberg serving a third term but......

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn just had a press conference and only said that the Council has discussed the issue--she didn't have any further statement--according to NY1. Legislation was introduced today, and it'll be "referred to a committee, followed by a public hearing, and then a possible vote." City Councilman Bill de Blasio said of Council support, "I think it's very, very evenly split, literally. Some very strong 'no' voices, some very strong 'yes' voices,......

Today, the NY Times reports that billionaire Ronald Lauder opposes Mayor Bloomberg's and the City Council's plan for legislation to permanently extend term limits from two four-year terms to three four-year terms. But the NY Post reports\ that Lauder, who help fund the initiatives to introduce term limits in the first place, made a deal with Bloomberg where Lauder would "support legislation...in exchange for a guaranteed seat on a Charter-revision commission." Lauder told the Times,......

Yesterday City Council members Bill de Blasio and Letitia James announced alongside mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner that they plan to introduce counter legislation to the council's bid to extend term limits on their own by sending the issue back to voters to decide in a special election this spring. The mayor's office said that it doesn't support such an election because they worry that it might not hold up legally, that the Department of Justice......

After Mayor Bloomberg announced he definitely would run for a third term if the City Council passed legislation adding a third term to existing term limits, the City Council announced that the legislation would be introduced on Tuesday. However, the Council bill will ask to make the addition of a third term permanent, versus just until 2013, as most-of-the-time term limits proponent Ronald Lauder suggested. City Council Christine Quinn said, "We typically don't write......

The Post reports that notable independent Mayor Michael Bloomberg will "likely...create a new third party for his re-election bid next year, while also seeking support from major parties." Ah, that's the opportunist mayor we know, who changed from a Democrat to a Republican in time for the 2001 election and then shed the GOP coat to go beyond partisan politics last year! The Mayor is expected to make his third term announcement at noon today.......

It's happening: Mayor Michael Bloomberg will reportedly announce that he will seek a third term on Thursday. The NY Times writes, "The extraordinary move promises to upend New York City’s political world.." Three people tell the Times that the billionaire mayor will "propose trying to revise the city’s 15-year-old term limits law, which would otherwise force him and dozens of other elected leaders out of office in 2009." And he will use the financial......

The Bloomberg administration's plan to transform the industrial Willets Point section of Queens was approved by the City Council's planning committee. But, the Sun points out, "the council vote will be its biggest hurdle." The $3 billion to make way for a hotel, convention center, offices, and stores, is supposed to generate 5,300 jobs and billions in economic activity, but about 200 small business owners, who would be forced out, have been bitterly opposing the......

Suffolk County on Long Island has become the first place in New York State where it's illegal to send text messages while operating a motor vehicle. Effective immediately, drivers spotted fiddling with their cell phones will face a $150 fine. Similar legislation has been passed in Nassau and Westchester counties but has not gone into effect, and a statewide law is still tied up in the legislature. In August, New York City Councilman David Weprin......

In order to counter an expected bill from Oliver Koppell to extend term limits, Councilman David Weprin says that he will introduce legislation that only a referendum by voters should change the city's term limits law. Weprin, like Koppell, is among the majority of Council members that will be forced out of office next year, but plans to run for city comptroller. Koppell calls Weprin's proposal “a largely cosmetic attempt at publicity.” While Mayor Bloomberg......

A new detail has come out that may influence the ongoing term limits debate. If term limits are extended from eight to twelve years as is being currently discussed, city council members would be guaranteeing their retirement health insurance, which kicks in after someone has worked for the city for ten years. That lifetime retiree health insurance costs up to $12,600 a year, theoretically putting the entire cost of over $200k each for the city......

People Have Spoken Coalition, a collection of politicians and community leaders, gathered in front of City Hall yesterday to show their support for term limit laws as the City Council inches closer to an attempt at overturning them. The group is prepared to organize rallies and potentially take legal action in order to protect term limits, which have been voted on twice by New Yorkers. At the gathering, state senator Eric Adams said, "The city......

If you watch just one Community Board Meeting video this summer, make it this one. Willets Point property owners who've been passionately protesting Mayor Bloomberg's controversial $3 billion plan to rezone the area (to make way for a hotel, convention center, offices and retail stores) have put together this video showing how the sausage gets made over at Community Board 7. Their gripping featurette focuses in on a contentious committee meeting that yielded a yes......

Bronx Councilman Oliver Koppell has taken the next (baby) step towards repealing the city's term limit laws, promising to introduce a bill proposing to extend them within weeks. Previously the Council were waiting for Mayor Bloomberg to confirm he would sign such a bill into law. But Koppell is ready to take the lead in extending the eight-year limit to twelve; he tells City Room that limits “cut off people’s careers in politics, which makes......

The Mayor and City Council have been talking about maybe attempting to extend term limits, but both sides seem to be waiting for the other to make the first move. And that is frustrating other politicians who are running for office. City Comptroller William Thompson Jr., who is running for mayor next year, said, "It is time that the mayor clearly state his position and not continue this charade." And City Councilman John Liu said,......

At this point, the next chapter in the saga of whether Mayor Bloomberg and City Council will make a play to extend term limits is waiting to be written by whichever of the two parties will officially pull the trigger and begin the process. Yesterday on his weekly radio show, Bloomberg hinted again that he would sign a proposal to extend the current limits for both him and the Council themselves, but refused to commit......

Mayor Bloomberg is definitely interested in seeing if the CIty City Council can reverse term limits (or at least change them from two terms to three terms) but there may be many legal challenges ahead. The Sun reports NYPIRG would likely "join a fight against such a vote court," with NYPIRG senior attorney Gene Russianoff pointing out that voters approved term limits in both 1993 and 1996. (The same sentiment was echoed by former public......

The most indispensable member of Council Speaker Christine Quinn's staff seems to be an unpaid 81-year-old World War II veteran, her father Lawrence P. Quinn. An endearing profile in the Times today spotlights his ongoing efforts for his daughter, who will run for mayor next year. Ms. Quinn, an openly gay liberal, calls him "an all-purpose schlepper" who comes in handy for retirement home photo-ops. Mr. Quinn, a practicing Catholic, seems to be crying for......

The state law banning hand-held cell phone use while driving doesn’t extend to text messaging, something Councilman David Weprin, father of 16-year-old twin girls, would like to change fast. Motivated by last summer’s fatal accident in the Finger Lakes region, in which five girls in a sport utility vehicle died when the text-messaging teenage driver swerved into oncoming traffic, Weprin will introduce a measure today that would ban the sending or reading of text messages......

Photo courtesy Atomische. Angry opponents to Mayor Bloomberg’s plan to develop 62 acres of poorly-maintained land in Willets Point, Queens disrupted a press conference yesterday held by city officials in Washington Square Park to tout the proposal. Councilman Hiram Monserrate, whose district includes Willets Point, led over two dozen protesters to the press conference, where they drowned out advocates for the plan, chanting “Justice for Willets Point!” According to the Times, the police refused......

Watch your back, Dick Cheney! Actor Ed Asner, former Dallas Cowboy Mark Stepnoski, and formerly famous hip hop group Arrested Development are leading a petition drive to get a referendum on New York City’s November ballot that would establish a new 9/11 investigation. If the group, called 911 Truth, can collect 30,000 signatures before September 4th, the City Council will be required to consider the measure, which calls for an investigative panel with subpoena......

Encouraged by the passage of a law requiring chain restaurants in New York City to display calorie information for food and beverages, Councilman Domenic Recchia has introduced a bill that would require store owners to post signs or labels warning parents about bite-size foods that pose a choking hazard for children under the age of five. Recchia tells the Sun he was motivated to do something after a 2-year-old boy in his district died in......

Twelve city council members are calling on Manhattan District Attorney Robert M Morgenthau to drop the charges against Christopher Long, the cyclist who was seen being bodyslammed to the curb by a rookie cop in a videotape of a Critical Mass ride on July 25th. The council members – who include Rosie Mendez, Letitia James, and Alan Gerson but not mayoral hopeful Christine Quinn – are also demanding that Morgenthau open a wider investigation into......

On Tuesday the L.A. city council passed a bill that would prevent new fast food restaurants from opening in certain parts of the city for at least one year. Not to be outdone, New York City Council member Eric Gioia is proposing the same thing here. He tells the Sun, "People are literally being poisoned by their diets – LA's idea deserves serious consideration as we look for holistic solutions to a serious problem." Suprisingly,......

Councilman Charles Barron, who is a frequent lightning rod for controversy in New York's City Council, was involved in a five-car smash up in Brooklyn last night. The accident occurred in the councilman's district of East New York on Linden Boulevard and Van Siclen Avenue late last night as Barron was driving home. Barron's car was struck in a chain reaction started by an SUV striking a livery cab attempting to turn at an intersection.......

Last night, Mayor Bloomberg and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn announced that the new $59 billion budget (for the 2009 fiscal year, which starts on July 1) will keep the $400 property tax rebate program for homeowners for a fifth year and increases funding to the Department of Education by $129 million. Still, other sacrifices were made as Bloomberg said, "The news about the economy, and its effects on the City's finances, continues to......

The NY Sun reports 26 out of the 51 City Council members support an Assembly bill that would require hedge fund and private equity managers to pay more in taxes. The City Council is looking for ways to raise money (like implementing a hotel room tax) rather than slashing programs, noting, "With New York City facing tight budget projections in the years to come, it is incumbent on all of us to make sure everyone......

Last week's special election to fill the vacated 30th Council District seat was a close one and suggested that Republican Anthony Como won. Como had led Democrat Elizabeth Crowley by 70 votes; an official announcement of the winner will be made this week, after the Board of Elections counts hundreds of absentee ballots and certifies the findings. Still, there are rumors that the election may have prompted the feds to take a closer look. Queens......

Yesterday, Queens residents in the City Council district represented by City Councilman Dennis Gallagher went to the polls to decide who will replace him until a November election. Right now, it seems like Republican candidate Anthony Como is leading, but only 70 votes separate him from Democrat Elizabeth Crowley. Gallagher is vacating his District 30 seat because his March guilty plea to sexual abuse and forcible touching. In 2007, he was accused of raping a......